Sand toy



G. A. KEHL.

SAND TOY. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1921.

Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

fforrzgg tripping mechanism of novel construction, wherein the loaded pails will'impinge upon STATE PATH r ore-ma enonen A. KEHL,'.OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

I s aivnfroz To all whomfz'tmay concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. KEHL, a

citizen of-the'United States, residing at St.

Paul, in the" county of Ramsey andState of Minnesota, having invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sand Toys, of

whichv the following is a specifieation.

This invention relates to automatic me- ;ch'anical toys ofjthel gravity operated type. 10

"a'sand operated toyhaving continuous nio 'tion as long'as supplied witlrsand, which An object ofltheinvention is' toprovide will beparticularly amusing because of the extensive cycle through'whlch the moving pa'rts'are directed, due to the novel, snnple "construction of the device.

deposited intwo distinct widely separated scooped piles, so that it may be conveniently without up and placed into the hopper,

minglingwith the lower part of the toy structure. I

" A 'stillif'urther object of'the invention is the I provision .of a reciprocatory lever, carrying symmetrically positioned dumping buckets, which, to lend neatness to the ap pearan'ce of the device, are round and tapered and which'operate 1n connection with a triangular tripping lever presenting a wide horizontal edge so as to render the ac 'tion of'the device positive even though the construction thereof is crude and inaccurate, after the manner of toy construction. A still further object of "the inventlon, is

be relatively close to each other, so as to befpositioned near the lowermost portion of the inwardly inclined walls of the bottom of the hopper, whereby approximately all' the sand in the hopper will be utilized be- ".fore' thedevice is rendered inactive. I

Another ob'ject ,of the "invention v isthe provision of'a toy, having a supporting frame 'wlth four outwardly flaring corner upr1ghts,whereby to ncrease pits base area,

- the frame'fbeing constructed with readily removable cross struts arranged close to the floor, which, when removed, enable the uprights to be swung" inwardly so asfto be Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 19 2 s ria ivo 465,973.

. an u ts.

Aug. 15, 1922.

capableofbeing packed into a container of parallel width'and height, to avoid the cost "of makin g of special irregularly shaped boxes.

' .To t his end," the invention consists in the i eonstruction, combination and arrangement parts hereinafter, described and claimed.

embodying my invention.

Figure 2, is a. fragmentary side view showing the bucket supporting beam or lever, mounted on its support, and a portion of thehopper including one ofthe discharge spouts 'an'd'its valve:

y ,In the annexed drawings, forming part of thisspecification: v I 7 v F1gure- '1, "1s a perspective view of a toy .fFigure 3 is "a fragmentary side view,

drawn to arr-enlarged scale, of a corner of the ,hopper partly in section, showing the pivotal upper'end connection of one of the ""Figure4, is H a view of the cross-struts, showing the manner-"of attaching the same to the uprights,

and;

.d gure, 5 s a perspective dlagrammatlc v ew show ng how the four uprights may be swung nto parallelism so as to be packed "into a carton of" uniform width and height.

In the drawings li designates an oblong "hopper having parallel vertical end walls 1,

a and side walls 2, s-aid'walls being bent in "wardly"respectively on the bending lines 3 and 4:, to form a funnel'shaped bottom 5. Extending centrally from the bottom of the hopper to the floor, in vertical position to supportthe hopper, is the standard or 001- 'fumn 6', formed of two relatively wide spaced members of'uniform width, to form a space the'provision of a device of the class de-" scribed, wherein the discharge spouts in -"open communication with the hopper, may

? between them.z Immediately adjacent the lower extremity of the column, is the rectangular aperture 8, and approximately midway. of its "length,the column is provided with the horizontally disposed pivot pin-9. The flat sides of the column are in parallelism withjth elong walls 2 of the hopper and movable" in the space '7 between its members and"sup'ported pivotally on the pivot pin 9 fr'agmentary' perspective I around sam ed fold 12, extending around the upper edge of the hopper,

To hold the uprights from withdrawlng from the fold 12, the upright underlyin same and the wall 2 are indented as at 12', preferably "from without inwards, as by means of a punch or set whereby vthe three elements are indented collectively as shown in Figure .3. By thismeans the upright is anchored and may be swung inwardly ,to a position at right angles to a position parallel with the column 6.

At their lower extremities, the angle uprights at the juncture of the legs ,of ,the :angle are pierced by the vertically disposed slot 13, the legs of the angles being bent outwardly to form suitable feet vFor the ,purpose of supporting the @upr ghts 1n inclined position and the column centrally between them, I provide thecross-struts 15, which latter are notched centrally ,at 16,;to form a halved joint.

In the process of assembling these struts the two struts are projected through the aperture 8, in the column 5, in crossed relation, said aperture being of suflicient height to permit :the struts to be interlocked therein. The ends ,of the struts are reduced in width to form a tongue 17 ,which is projected through the slot 13 and bent laterally itolock it in'theupright,

In Fig. .5, is shown diagrammatically, the position of the upright when prepared for ,packing in cartons adapted to fit closely The swinging feature of th upright, enablesthe use of boxes of uniform dimensions which cost less than irregular shaped cartons and have the advantage of stacking more economically. By attaching the struts in the ,manner described any unskilled person may assemble ,the device without any special tools.

In Figure 1, one f the uprights isshown indotted lines. Referring now to the beam 10, the ends are bent to form forks 18, the latter being equidistant from the pivot 9, and having supportingpins 19,-parallel with the pivot 9, ,whereon are swingingly supported the buckets 20,. The1buckets arepivoted adjacent their upperedgesand atstheir diameters so as rto swing-freely on said pin.

As shown, the beam 10 is crooked in the center atzthe ,pivo,t:9,, so .as to bring the sup- ,portingbeam' 19 at itsopposite ends, a distance .above the plane of the pivot 9, the purpose ofuvhich will be hereinafter explained.

Inopen communication with the interior of-the hopper A, one for each bucket, im

{extending downwardly and outwardly, are thespouts 21, themouth- 22 of! the spout being directly overthe bucket, when the fork of thebeam .is swung to ,its uppermost position. Extending downwardly from ethe lower edge of the spout, are the spaced lugs ee ers 23, having pivot pin 24 parallel with the pivot *9, and ipi-vota-lly supporting on said pin, of which the latter is a part, valve mechanism B. This mechanism comprises a V-shaped lever 25 pivoted intermediate the ends of one leg thereof on the pin 24, and having at the outer extremity of said leg, in a plane at right angles to said V- shaped lever, a valve disk 26 adapted to swingupwardly against the spout 21 to close its opening 22 as shown in Figure 1. Suspended from ,a point at the juncture of the ll-shaped lever, as by wire 27, is the counter weight 28 whereby said valve" disk spout to hold it closed. The pivot 24, constitutes a fulcrum for the Vshaped lever. The lower leg of the .V-shaped lever is formed with a relatively long edge 29 arranged parallel with the pivot 9, said edge being positionedin the path of the bucket to contact with .the outer rounded surface thereof, thereby causing the V-shaped lever to swing upon its fulcrum to uncover the mouth .of the spout. Suitably attached to the lower edge of .the bucket, as by means of .the lug 29, and to the beam 10 by means of ,an opening 30, is the flexible cord 31. This cord ,isYof Suitable length to restrict the pivotalswinging m veme of the buck in its downward movement, so that when it has arrivedjat its lowermost position it will, axially, assume a horizontal position. As the buckets shown in its drawings are tapered, the sand cannot remain therein when ,in its lowermost position. Obviously .as the sand ,is discharged from the lower ,bucket the upper loaded bucket will begin todescend, while thecounter-weight 28, will seat the valve 26 against the spout, immediately the bucket vrecedes from the edge 29 of the \/=sl 1aped.lever. 7

Thus, the operationis repeated the empty ,bucket ,rises in turn, and striking the V- shaped lever to open the opposite discharge spout 21, If, as shown, indotted lines, in Figure-2 of thedrawings, a straight beam were-usedinstead of a bent one, as described, the lower ,bncket in its dumping movement would discharge its, Ca go within the rectangle described ,by ;the feet of the uprights, thus mingling the sand with the struts 15, and making it more difficult to return it tothe hopper. The important advantage, ,however, ,of having a bent lever resides ,in .the increased leverage obtained for dripping-the valve mechanism B as is clearly "indicated by the "dotted lines ,in Figure .2, th xdistancea vf o the perpendiculainglwrtys being equahas distinguished gfrom abent lever ,as,herelnemployemwherelinrth distanc at he lower "end of t e beam .is nearly three times a, thus giving a long leverageon one side ofthefulcrum equal almost three to one. This makesthe is held constantly normally against the round buckets of the shape shown, a considerable amount of side play at the free ends of the beam 10 is permissible, it being very difficult to construct toys with long,

swinging beams that will operate with accuracy at their outer ends.

I claim:

1. In a sand toy, the combination, a frame, a hopper supported by the frame and having a pair of oppositely disposed downwardly directed discharge openings positioned symmetrically about a vertical axis, separate valve mechanism for each of said openings, said mechanism consisting of a lever formed with a valve, said lever being pivoted adjacent the discharge opening to swing upwardly against said hopper to thereby cover said opening and having an arm extending below its pivot, means constantly tending to swing said lever upwardly, a beam pivoted midway between its ends in said vertical axis below said valve mechanism and having a bucket, one at each end thereof, pivotallv mounted, so as to swing in the vertical plane of said discharge openings and against said extending arm to move it, and means connected with said beam for restricting the swinging movement of said buckets.

2. In a mechanical toy, the combination, a supporting frame, a hopper supported thereon having a pair of spaced oppositely disposed downwardly opening discharge spouts, independent valve mechanism for closing each of said spouts, said mechanism comprising, a V-shaped lever formed with a valve, said lever fulcrumed below the spout to swing with its valve against the latter to close it, one leg of the V-shaped lever extending downwardly, a counterweight on the lever opposite said valve, and a vibratory beam, having a bucket swingingly mounted at each end thereof, each bucket having means to restrict its swinging movement,

said beam pivoted in a manner midway between its ends at a position below and midway between said spouts, to vibrate in the vertical plane of said spouts and engage alternately with its buckets, when vibrated,

respeotivel said downwardlyextending legs, said beam eing bent upwardly intermediate its ends for the purpose set forth.

3. In a mechanical toy, the combinatioma' supporting frame, a hopper supported thereon having a pair of spaced oppositely disa posed downwardly opening discharge spouts positioned symmetrically about a vertical axis, independent valve mechanism for each of said spouts, said mechanism comprising a pivotally-mounted counterweighted lever,

extending over the opening of the spout to,

close it and having a downwardly extending arm, intermediate its ends, a vibratory beam, having a bucket pivotally mounted at each end thereof, each bucket having a flexible connection with said beam to" control its swinging movement, said beam being pivoted midway between its ends below said spouts in said vertical axis, and being adapted when vibrated to bring its buckets alternately into engagement respectively with said downwardly extending arms, and under said discharge openings, the pivots of said buckets being positioned in a plane above the pivot of said beam.

it. In a toy of the class described, a rectangular hopper having a pair of discharge openings in the bottom thereof, an outwardly and downwardly extending supporting upright pivotally secured at each corner of said hopper, each upright havinga slot at its base, a vertical column secured to the under side of the hopperand having a transverse aperture adjacent the base thereof, valve opening and closing instrumentalities including a vibratory actuating lever on said hopper for each of said discharge-openings, gravity actuatable vibratory receiving and discharging instrumentalities mounted on said column adapted to alternately operatively engage said actuating levers, and a pair of readily removable struts, formed with tongues at their ends and interlockingly crossed at right angles and extending through said aperture and with their tongues through the respective slots of said upright, said tongues being capable of being bent laterally by hand to hold the uprights positioned relative to said column. I

In testimony whereof'I affix my signature. GEORGE A. KEHL. 

